The Light of the World

Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Funny thing about darkness, you can bring a light into a dark room and the darkness is gone, but you can’t bring darkness into a lit room. You have to remove or eliminate the illumination (Spiritual enlightenment – Webster’s). In John 3:19 Jesus tells this truth: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

It is amazing the amount of darkness against God’s sovereign commandments, for us and our lives, that is in the world today. What do we allow into our eyes and ears, without blinking an eye, is staggering. What is acceptable to God, aligned with His Holy Will and “right” in His eyes, seems almost foreign in the darkness of vanity and immorality. Compromising dark messages come subtlety, tempting our fleshly desires to embrace the pleasures of Sin. I love the example of the Phantom of the Opera. In this Play's world-recognized feature song, the Phantom gives a message that I bet few have thought about the words:

Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation. Darkness wakes and stirs imagination. Silently the senses abandon their defenses. Helpless to resist the notes I write, for I compose the music of the night.

Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor.Grasp it, sense it - tremulous and tender
Hearing is believing, Music is deceiving.Hard as lightning,Soft as candlelight. Dare you trust the music of the night.

Close your eyes for your eyes will only tell the truth and the truth isn't what you want to see. In the dark it is easy to pretend that the truth is what it ought to be.
Softly, deftly music shall caress you. Hear it, feel it secretly possess you.
Open up you mind let your fantasies unwind. In this darkness which you know you cannot fight. The darkness of the music of the night.

Close your eyes start a journey through a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Close your eyes and let music set you free. Only then can you belong to me. Floating, falling, sweet intoxication. Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation. Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in
to the power of the music that I write. The power of the music of the night.

Just a song? John 8:11b-12" Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Psalm 119:97-105 “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

Walk in the light. Let your light shine before men. The world needs the light of Christ.
Brian